


Lemonade

by HappinessIsBlau



Series: Fallout 4 Daily Writing Prompt Fills [7]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-15
Updated: 2017-07-15
Packaged: 2018-12-02 14:45:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11511573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HappinessIsBlau/pseuds/HappinessIsBlau
Summary: “Isn’t there a Mr. Handy in Covenant that sells lemonade?”“Ugh, no, that stuff isn’t actually lemonade. I’m actually pretty sure it’s bottled piss."





	Lemonade

“You know what I’m thirsty for?” Sophia was rooting through a mailbox, picking things out of it that she wanted. The way that she prioritized gear didn’t make any sense at all -- she traded useful items for useless garbage and cried when she’d found a set of salt-shakers once. 

_“I used to have a set just like these,” she’d said, tears in her eyes as she held them to her heart._

“What’s that?” Piper asked politely, though she was sure it’d be something weird (Artificially flavored frozen milk drink? Even though the redhead swore by “milkshakes” they still sounded gross). 

“Lemonade!” 

“Isn’t there a Mr. Handy in Covenant that sells lemonade?”

“Ugh, no, that stuff isn’t actually lemonade. I’m actually pretty sure it’s bottled piss. Lemons are…” 

Sophia looked around and then looked at her feet, as if she was trying to find an example of a lemon tree in the middle of nuked-out Boston. 

“Um, okay, so… it’s sour and it’s a fruit. That’s a lemon, but you probably know what a lemon is. Lemonade is when you add sugar and water and ice and lemon juice and it’s actually kind of sweet but not exactly all the time depending on where you get it, but you drink it in the summer and little kids used to sell it in suburban neighborhoods and when my grandma was young, you could sell it for like 10 cents a cup but in the 2070’s it was more like 10 dollars a cup--” 

“Okay, yeah, I get the idea. That, uh, sounds good?” Fake optimism was a chore, and a friend’s work was never done. 

“No, I’m stuck on this now,” Sophia continued despite Piper’s sigh of impatience as the redhead tucked a set of only slightly water-damaged encyclopedia into her pack, “and I really, really want real lemonade. Actually… I think I know how we could make this happen. We just need to get lemon seeds.” 

 

So that’s how they found themselves going through a burned-out Super Duper Mart. Raiders and ghouls loved lurking in places like this -- all of the cover that shelves and counters afforded was usually a good strategic advantage for whoever set up shop in these places.

Usually being the keyword. 

Sophia knew how to jimmy the back-entrance lock, which caught the strung-out raiders off guard and without weapons. A turret (half-fashioned out of an old gumball machine -- crude, but creative) was taken care of with accuracy and without haste. 

“What did they teach you out there before the world ended?” Piper asked, and Sophia just beamed at her like she normally did. It was a little less friendly and sun-shiney when the taller woman was using the butt of her rifle to cave in a Raider’s head, but hey. 

When the place was completely cleared out (which wasn’t a difficult task, as it seemed that there were only a small group of Raiders who called the old dump home), Sophia began the task of walking down the familiar isles. 

There was little food left on the shelves -- an odd can of beans or box of mac n’ cheese was quickly added to their packs. 

“Here we are,” Sophia said finally when they’d come to a worn-out display. It was grimy and singed but the advertisement for growing your own food remained. They took every single packet of seeds that was left in the display or on the floor nearby in hopes that they might have some sort of growing potential. 

Unfortunately, no lemon seeds. 

“Boston wasn’t the kind of place that you could grow a lemon tree,” Sophia said nostalgically as she pinched off a piece of ancient cupcake and put it in her mouth, bracing herself for the combined taste of rot and frosting. 

Piper didn’t want to go back into a musty old grocery store again, but she hated to see her friend so defeated. 

“We could ask Daisy in Goodneighbor if she knows anyplace that might have them. She hears a lot of gossip since she’s right by the city gate, so she might know where someone would keep fruit seeds.”

Sophia’s eyes lit up and she looked like she might cry. “I know you think this is a wild goose chase, but that’s the sweetest news I’ve heard all day. Thank you, Piper, you’re a genius!” 

“Yeah, well, you know me,” she grinned, her cheeks burning from the praise even if it was well-deserved. 

The trip to Goodneighbor was uneventful, which was as suspicious as it was surprising. It usually didn’t take long for people with ill intention to find their way back into the streets of downtown, no matter how often patrols cleared it out. Sophia was usually regarded with general suspicion around the town, but she was glad that she was left alone as they walked into Daisy’s shop. 

The pre-war ghoul was chewing bubblegum and leaning against the counter with a dog-eared copy of _Dune _in her hand. It looked like it had seen better days -- the cover was singed and it looked like a few chapters had fallen out. Sophia made a mental note to ask Daisy about a possible book club -- she figured that between her and Nate, there was a good chance that one of them had a much cleaner looking copy of _Dune_ somewhere in the house. Most of their books had survived the apocalypse in pretty good condition. They traded some equipment for a few minutes before they got to the real business. __

__“Do you remember lemonade, Daisy?”_ _

__The ghoul’s eyes clouded with nostalgia. She closed her eyes and Sophia knew the feeling of going back. If Daisy’s memories were anything like her’s, she was probably remembering summer up north with the wind in her hair and the smell of the sea._ _

__“Definitely. Why do you ask?”_ _

__“Well, I’m really thirsty for lemonade and I had the idea that if we could find some lemon seeds, we might be able to rig up a greenhouse or something and grow lemon trees. I know it’s a long shot, but…”_ _

__“Actually, it might not be,” Daisy brought a paper tray up from under her counter and flipped through some faded, grimy pages before she came to the one she was looking for._ _

__“Rumor has it that there’s a ghoul that lives up north, near Abernathy Farm, who has an underground greenhouse that she uses to grow citrus. I’ve heard that she’s friendly to wastelanders, but you might want to be careful just in case.”_ _

__Piper was quite proud that her idea paid off. Sophia was positively beaming at the prospect of the idea that she may get some real lemonade. It was about a seven hour trip from Goodneighbor to Abernathy Farm in what would probably end up being a complete waste of time, but it had been a while since Sophia had ventured that direction. She made her main base of operations out of her former home in Sanctuary Hills so even if the tale about the ghoul with the citrus ended up being a bust, it would still call for a rest at home._ _

__The first place to start looking would be at Abernathy Farm, since Daisy mentioned that the Citrus Ghoul was supposedly somewhere in the general area._ _

__Piper and Sophia were greeted by the Lucy Abernathy at the settlement gate. She smiled and waved and petted Dogmeat as she lead them up to the house where her parents were eating dinner. They insisted that the women stayed, since the sun was setting and there was plenty of food for everyone._ _

__“Have you heard about a ghoul that has an underground greenhouse full of citrus?”_ _

__“Of course,” Blake answered, wiping his mouth with a napkin, “she’s a little ways south, halfway between here and Walden Pond. Tell her that Blake and Connie sent you and I’m sure she’d give you a trading discount. She doesn’t get many visitors so I’m sure that she’d try to talk your ear off if she got the chance.”_ _

__The next morning, the pair set off. Dogmeat walked ahead as always, pausing to sniff the air and wait for them when he walked too quickly._ _

__“I can’t believe this place was here and I never knew about it. I thought that I’d scoured this part of the Commonwealth pretty damn well,” Sophia remarked, stepping over a branch instead of almost tripping over it like Piper did._ _

__“I’ve heard a lot of Commonwealth gossip, but I hadn’t heard of the Citrus Ghoul. It has to be a well-kept secret if I haven’t been told about it.”_ _

__Sophia nodded to indicate that she was listening, but she walked faster when Dogmeat woofed and wagged his tail. Piper kept up behind the taller woman, careful to watch the ground for more debris that could be easily tripped-over._ _

__They came to a massive barn with peeling red paint and a squeaky, rusted windmill out front. The pile of rubble nearby seemed to indicate that there was once a house that stood next to it, but it was long gone._ _

__“He-llo. What. Is. Your. Bus-i-ness. Here?”_ _

__It was a Protectron; it waddled out from along the side of the barn. It had a tophat on and two cartoonish blue eyes painted on its casing. It was as if someone tried to make it look cute, but instead made it look creepy._ _

__“We were interested in trading?” Piper tried, slinging her pack down from her shoulder. She took out some mutfruit that the Abernathys had given them for the road and handed one to the Protectron, who clasped it gently between its claw-like fingers._ _

__“Very. Good. Ma-dam. Will. Be. Ex-ci-ted. That. We. Have. Guests.” It rotated at the waist and wrapped one of its “fingers” around the handle of the door, dragging it open and revealing a small brick-and-mortar building inside._ _

__The building was significantly smaller than the barn was -- the faded FDA plaque showed its true intentions._ _

__Piper wanted so badly to ask Sophia if she knew anything about what this could have been, but she held her tongue. It’s not like you could ask a girl, “Hey, your dead husband was in the army, right? Do you know what this weird hidden building was?”_ _

__Sophia seemed to read her mind, though. “I have no idea what this was. If there’s an artificial greenhouse under here, maybe they were doing research for their own Vaults, or something? Maybe they wanted to grow stuff for the armed forces without giving themselves away? I have no idea what this is about. I’m curious, though.”_ _

__“Go. On. Ma-dam. Is. In. The. Gar-den.”_ _

__Sophia thanked the Protectron and opened the door to the building. It was dark inside -- the only light came from floodlights that were on and the sunlight that was flooding through the barn door and the open door to the building that Sophia was holding. In the middle of the room, a staircase (one that could be easily hidden in the floor, the button was noticeable nearby) was open. Lights in the stairs made it easy to navigate; at the bottom, there was a medium-sized room that was obviously someone’s home._ _

__Porcelain dishes (that Sophia recognized as being from her home; a wedding gift from her grandmother, actually) were clean, sitting beside a sink. A bed with hand-made blankets was in the corner with two black cats sleeping soundly at the foot._ _

__“Must be a pre-war Ghoul,” Piper commented quietly. The 200 year old Ghouls with memories of civilization were known to keep their homes as close to the pre-war standard as possible._ _

__Sophia nodded, careful not to disturb anything as she walked through to the door in the back of the room with another FDA plaque next to the handle. What it originally said was faded, but someone carefully painted over it with black paint to say “Garden.” That’s where they would find the owner of this property, according to the Protectron upstairs._ _

__“What’s your business?” The ghoul was turned away from them, picking fruits off of a lemon tree and putting them into a picnic basket on her arm. Sophia’s heart lurched -- finally! Their efforts had paid off! Piper grinned so wide that Sophia was sure that the girl was going to burst out laughing._ _

__“We wanted lemonade,” the words escaped Sophia’s mouth before she could stop them. She mentally facepalmed -- real smooth, Sophia._ _

__The ghoul laughed, still turned away from them. “Fair enough, fair enough. Help me pick some and I’ll make you some lemonade.” She pointed over her shoulder to behind them, where there were several other baskets against the wall. “If you want some,” she rasped, “you gotta work for ‘em.” She turned to greet them, catching a glimpse of Sophia and dropping her basket. It hit the floor with a sharp sound.  
“Sophia?” the woman asked, her cloudy eyes filling with tears. Despite ghoulification, the resemblance was uncanny. _ _

__“Grandma?” Sophia asked, tears obvious in her voice, “I thought you were in DC. I…”_ _

__The ghoul wrapped her arms around the much taller woman, shaking and sobbing. They fell to the floor. Sophia clinging to the tiny ghoul as if her life depended on it. Piper stood awkwardly above them, fascinated by the rows and rows and rows of lemons, but definitely more interested in the scene unfolding before her._ _

__

__They sat at the table, chipped glasses full of lemonade. Sophia’s fingers were entwined with her grandmother’s (“You can call me Liz, sweetie,” the ghoul told Piper with a smile), as they caught up._ _

__The ghoul had indeed been in DC when the bombs dropped, and she lived in the Museum of History for a while as a guard, despite being in her 80’s. Ghoulification did her well, Liz said. She was sorry of what happened to Nate but pleased to hear that Shaun was living in Sanctuary Hills._ _

__“Would you like to come back to Sanctuary with us?” Sophia already knew the answer, but she had to ask anyway._ _

__“This is where I’m happy. James -- that’s the Protectron -- and I feel like we have a purpose here. Raiders, ferals, and ‘Muties stay away and the Abernathys have been good neighbors. Although, I wouldn’t mind visiting or giving you back the dishes I lifted from your house,” she laughed, and Sophia laughed with her._ _

__“Would you be open to joining the Minutemen, then? We could build and fortify a fence around the property, maybe build some homes for settlers, get you a better water system…” it was the usual spiel that Sophia gave, but it seemed to charm the ghoul._ _

__“I always knew that you’d do great things,” she said, squeezing Sophia’s hand, “and I think that sounds like a fine idea.”_ _

__Piper finished off her lemonade; it was definitely worth the trek, she decided, as she got up to put her cup in the sink._ _

__

___May 16th, 2282_ _ _

___Lemonade by Piper Wright_ _ _

___Lemonade was a staple of pre-war summer; just ask our favorite vault-dwelling time-traveler and she’ll list off the recipe for you by heart. Lemons, ice, sugar, and purified water is all that you need to wax poetic about a season that doesn’t exist anymore._ _ _

___“Miss Wright!” you exclaim, “I don’t know what a lemon is! Where do I find this mythical fruit that has been lost to time?”_ _ _

___Fear not, citizen of the Great Green Gem! On a recent adventure across the wasteland, your intrepid reporter was witness to a story of survival and happy endings..._ _ _

**Author's Note:**

> This took foreeeeever to write. I'm not sure how much I like it, but at least it is finally done. The prompt is, of course, Lemonade.


End file.
